From the Sidelines of Life
by Girl With a Pearl Earring
Summary: Ginny Weasley and Blaise Zabini. Gryffindor and Slytherin. As different as night and day, right? So, what happens when a Weasley prank goes wrong and the two are forced to switch bodies for a month? T for language and romance. Also features girl!Blaise.
1. Chapter 1: A New Life

**Chapter 1: A New Life**

A/N: Hi! This idea came to me late one night while sleep was busy evading me, so I thought I'd give it a try. This story takes place in Ginny's 4th year, Harry's 5th. The plot lines of the Harry Potter books have no effect, so nothing is in canon, except for character traits. Also, I know that Blaise has been identified as male, but I needed a female Slytherin, and I don't like Pansy or Millicent too much. You'll thank me later. 

Summary: Ginny decides to start living her own life again, but what happens when she's forced to do it in someone else's body?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything connected or affiliated with J. K. Rowling or the Harry Potter series. Duh.

Flinging herself onto her four poster bed, Ginny Weasley screamed into her pillow with all her might. Luckily, the dorm room was empty; otherwise her roommates probably would've questioned her sanity. When her energy was spent, she flopped onto her back and gazed hazily at the ceiling, pondering if she should just kill herself now and get it over with. She felt strangely disconnected with her own body, as if her mind was spiraling out into the air of its own accord. She replayed the scene of a few minutes ago, reveling in the horror of her own actions.

_She was walking down the hall toward her Charms class, reviewing the incantations of several spells in her head for their test, when she heard voices coming out of an empty classroom to her right. Recognizing them as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she smiled and made to open the door, when something she heard made her freeze with her arm outstretched toward the doorknob. _

"_Ron!" scolded Hermione, "That's completely unfair!"_

"_Well, it's not as thought I don't love her," retorted Ron, "She's my sister! But…I don't know…don't you think she's been getting a bit," he paused, obviously searching for the right word, "clingy lately?"_

"_I suppose," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I have noticed her hanging around a lot more, but I just thought it had something to with her fancying Harry."_

"_I thought she'd gotten over that," said Harry, sounding a little shocked, "It's been more than three years already."_

"_Well yes," said Hermione, almost sympathetically, "But I don't think she has, Harry."_

_There was a short pause. Ginny started to wake up from her shock and felt herself becoming very angry._

"_It's not like I don't like hanging out with her normally," said Ron a little hesitantly, "But she's not acting normally. She's still really shy and quiet around Harry. You don't know how weird it is for her to be like this, especially since I've grown up with her being the center of attention."_

"_Maybe it's best if we try to hint for her to hang out with her other friends," suggested Harry, "At least for a while."_

"_What other friends?" asked Ron, "Does she even have any?"_

_At this remark, Ginny could no longer control herself. She burst into the room, reveling in the sight of their shocked faces, before letting her temper take charge._

"_Of course I have other friends, Ron! And obviously they're all much better friends than you three are! I can't believe you would talk about me behind my back like this! And for your information, _Hermione_," Ginny screamed, emphasizing Hermione's name, making the older girl flinch, "I haven't fancied Harry since the end of my first year! So keep your stupid theories and suspicions, because I want nothing more to do with you! Just—just—" Ginny spluttered, trying to find words to express how strongly she hated them, "Just stay away from me!" she ended childishly, running back out the door and down the hallway, her Charms test completely forgotten._

Ginny groaned, cringing inwardly at what she had said. The truth was that Hermione was right. She really did fancy Harry; she had since the moment she had met him. How could she not? But maybe the time had come for her to move on. He had obviously never liked her, so why should she like him?

The tears came, rolling gently down her face and pooling in the corners of her mouth. How could she possibly move on? Harry was perfect…

_No, he's not,_ said the defiant part of her mind. _If he's so perfect, then why was he just talking about you behind your back with his best friends? If he's so perfect, why hasn't he noticed you yet? If he's so perfect, why doesn't he love you?_

Ginny pondered this for a moment. Her mind was right, Harry wasn't perfect. In fact, he wasn't even worthy of her attention anymore. What did she need with him, anyway? She could be her own person, live her own life without him, right? She just needed to stop acting so passively; Ron was right about that. In fact, the whole conversation (or at least the part that Ginny had heard) was pretty much the truth. Except for the part about her fancying Harry. She did _not _fancy Harry Potter. Maybe she should just make up with them and apologize for losing control like that. If she was her normal, outgoing self, then they would have nothing to complain about, right?

_Right_, her mind answered happily, _Now you're getting somewhere._

Wiping away her tears, Ginny left her room to search for her three friends, happier than she had been in years. She was finally ready to live her own life again.

Two weeks later, Ginny walked out of her last class of the day, Transfiguration, with nothing on her mind except the desire to go to dinner and eat as much food as humanly possible. She had skipped lunch in order to finish her Transfiguration essay, which she had completely forgotten about until today, so she was understandably starving.

She took a shortcut through a dusty tapestry that led her to a considerably less-crowded hallway.

"Psst, Ginny."

Ginny paused and looked around, but nobody was even paying attention to her. Wondering if she had finally lost her mind, she shrugged and started to take a step when a hand shot out of a nearby classroom and pulled her inside. Her wand was halfway out of her pocket before she realized who her attacker was.

"Fred, what's going on?" she asked exasperatedly, "Don't you have anything better to do than scare me half to death?"

"As a matter of fact, we do," said George, "We were just experimenting with our latest project and seeing as how you are our most beloved sister,"

"I'm your only sister," said Ginny, rolling her eyes.

"A mere technicality," replied George with a grin.

"We thought we might give you the honor of being the first to try it out," finished Fred, handing her a large glass jar filled with a glowing purple powder.

Ginny looked suspiciously at the jar. "And what exactly does this brilliant experiment do?"

"Why, simple, dear sister," said Fred, "You simply dash some powder on the floor and the two people who happen to be closest to it switch bodies…temporarily of course."

"At least, that's what it's supposed to do," said George, "It worked on us,"

"How could you tell?" she asked with amusement.

"We had to wear different shirts," said George, shrugging. "But we want to make sure it works across genders as well."

"And you want me to switch bodies with one of you two," she said resignedly.

"So you'll do it?" asked Fred hopefully.

"As long as you promise that it's temporary," she said, looking at the powder mistrustfully.

"If it works the first time, all you have to do is sprinkle another handful and you'll change back," said Fred.

"And if it doesn't work?" she asked.

"It will," said George confidently.

"If you say so," said Ginny, unscrewing the lid. She knew Fred and George well enough to know that they wouldn't ask her to do it unless they were positive that it would work.

"Excellent," said George. "So Ginny, if you'll stand over here," he pointed to a spot a little closer to the door, "And um…Do you want to do it, Fred?"

Before Fred could answer, they heard an almighty crash come from the floor above. A few seconds later, Ginny made out the distinctive hunting cry of Filch, although she couldn't catch his new victim's name.

"Who do you suppose?" she asked curiously.

Just then, she heard the same dusty tapestry she had used as a shortcut being ripped aside as someone frantically sprinted down the passageway.

"You're going to pay for that, Zabini!" screamed Filch, "Come back here!"

Just then, Blaise Zabini ran into the classroom, completely out-of-breath, and slammed right into Ginny. As she fell, Ginny watched, as if in slow motion, the glass jar slip from her hand and shatter on the classroom floor, releasing the glowing powder. A huge cloud of green smoke engulfed her, making it impossible to see anything. Even as her body hit the ground, she experienced a moment of weightlessness. She was floating, flying, it was bliss, and then she felt reality come back as if it had punched her in the stomach and she became aware that she was very out-of-breath.

"What happened?" asked Ginny, trying to slow her breathing. Her voice came out lower and raspier than usual, making her wonder if her breathlessness was affecting her vocal cords.

"Ginny, are you okay?" came George's worried voice a little to her left.

"I'm fine, George," she answered, sitting up. "Who are you talking to?"

He looked over at her, noticing the smashed jar, and paled considerably.

"Oh no," said Fred, his usual grin absent.

"What's going on?" said a girl's voice to Ginny's left.

Ginny looked over and nearly passed out. She was looking at her own body, her own fiery red hair, bright brown eyes; everything was the same. It was definitely the most bizarre thing she had ever seen.

She looked over at Fred and George, who were examining the shattered jar. "Please tell me you can fix this," she begged, her voice still much lower than she was used to.

"I don't know, Gin," said Fred, looking up at her apprehensively, "That was our only jar."

By this time, Blaise, who had been listening closely, had figured out what had happened. "You idiots!" she hissed in Ginny's voice, "How much longer are we going to have to stay like this?"

George looked at her worriedly. "Well, we have to order the Doxie eggs next Hogsmeade visit and we have to steal some of Snape's ingredients to make that transformation potion so I'd say…" he paused, calculating in his head, "We can have the powder ready in about a month."

"What?!" shrieked Ginny and Blaise at the same time.

"You can't expect us to do this!" cried Ginny in distress, "How am I supposed to do everything I normally do in a Slytherin's body?"

"It's not like I would enjoy being a Gryffindor for a month either!" snapped Blaise defensively.

Suddenly they heard Filch's wheezy breathing filtering down the hallway, signaling his approach. Immediately, Blaise leapt up and said, "_Colloportus_!", effectively sealing the door. They remained silent until Filch had moved on to another part of the castle.

"We should go to Dumbledore," continued Ginny as if there had been no interruption, "He'll know how to reverse it."

"No, he won't," said George, "Even if he knows a spell, there's no other way to reverse this except by using the powder again. We made it that way, partly because we found it amusing at the time and partly to increase sales."

"You've got to be joking," said Blaise weakly, slumping back to the floor.

"Actually, we're not," said Fred with a small smile, "First time for everything, huh?"

Blaise just glared at him, causing his half-smile to slide quickly off his face.

"You guys will manage," said George bracingly, "There are lots of worse things that could've happened."

"Like what?" asked Ginny bitterly, examining her new hands, which were much larger and darker than usual.

"Like the powder could have malfunctioned and you both could've had two extra fingers for a week."

Ginny looked at him incredulously.

"What?" he asked defensively, "That's what happened the first time we tried it."

"I think I'd rather have the fingers," said Blaise, inspecting Ginny's red hair, which was much too bright for her taste.

"Well, ain't getting any younger," said Fred joyfully, "Let's go eat."

Ginny looked at them pleadingly. She did _not _want to eat dinner with the Slytherins, even though she would have to do it eventually. George looked sympathetically at her, then his eyes lit up.

"Maybe we could go to the kitchens instead," he suggested brightly. "That way, we can eat in private and discuss what to do about your situation until we have the powder ready."

"Sure," said Ginny half-heartedly, standing up and dusting her robes (or Blaise's robes) off.

"Is there anything else I should know?" asked Ginny an hour later as she reached for a huge rhubarb pie one of the overzealous house-elves had brought to their small table.

Blaise slapped her hand away from the pie and said, "Yes. I hate rhubarb pie."

"Damn," Ginny muttered under her breath for what felt like the 500th time tonight. Most of the things that Ginny loved to do she could no longer do while she was in Blaise's body. They were both on their respective Quidditch teams, but while Ginny played Chaser, Blaise played Beater. Blaise despised bacon, Ginny loved it. Ginny hated playing Gobstones, which happened to be Blaise's favorite pastime.

"Is there _anything_ we have in common?" she asked in exasperation.

"Possibly," said Fred, who was listening to the conversation with great amusement.

Blaise glared at him before answering. "Well," she paused, holding up her fingers to count, "We both like Quidditch,"

"That doesn't count," said Ginny, "We play different positions. It's going to be totally different."

Blaise sighed and started again. "We both…um…go to Hogwarts?" she tried.

"Ha, ha," said Ginny bleakly.

"Wait, I've got it!" said George ecstatically, throwing his hands up in the air and scaring several nearby house-elves who scurried away, squeaking in fright, "You're both girls!"

Ginny, Blaise, and even Fred stared at him in disbelief.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Blaise asked sarcastically.

"Your personalities are pretty much the same," said Fred reasonably. When they just stared at him much in the same way they had just stared at George, he said, "No, no, think about it. You're both outgoing, you both get in trouble a lot, not to mention you both are very sarcastic."

"That's only when we're around you," Blaise pointed out.

"Wait, they might actually have a point," said Ginny thoughtfully.

"So at least it won't be too hard faking each other's personality," said Blaise, "I've just got to make sure I'm nice to the Gryffindors."

"Yeah," said Ginny gloomily, "I still can't believe I have to be best friends with Malfoy."

"Don't call him that," Blaise warned, "He'll know something's up if you call anyone by their last name. In fact, he'll know something's up if you do anything abnormal, so be careful."

"Okay, okay," said Ginny, waving her hand at Blaise's concern, "I'll be fine. You've told me enough for me to pull off being a Slytherin for at least a year, let alone a month."

"I hope so," said Blaise.

"Well, we'll see you lovely ladies soon," said Fred, getting up from his seat, "But we've got to go."

"Yeah," said George, following suite, "We don't want to be late for curfew."

"Since when do you care?" asked Ginny.

Fred adopted a look of mock outrage. "How can you ask such a thing, Ginny? Why, we've always been the rule-abiding, outstanding young people you see before you today!"

Ginny smiled. She was going to miss their antics for the next month.

"You'd better come with us, Blaise," said George, "You need to know the way up to Gryffindor tower."

"Okay," said Blaise, following them to the exit.

"What about me?" asked Ginny anxiously, jumping up after them.

"You know the way to the common room, right?" asked Blaise.

"Well, yeah," replied Ginny hesitantly.

"And the password?"

When Ginny nodded her head, Blaise said, "Then you'll be fine. Just say that you had to avoid Filch and so you ate in the kitchen. They'll buy that."

"Okay," said Ginny, smiling nervously. Blaise smiled reassuringly at her, surprising Ginny once again. Blaise Zabini, the girl who had tormented her and her friends for years, was actually being nice to her! Ginny knew it was probably just because of the circumstances, but she couldn't help feeling grateful toward her just the same.

"We'll send you an owl if anything happens," said George, smiling sympathetically at her, "We'll miss you."

"See you later, sis," called Fred cheerfully as they reached the Entrance Hall, now devoid of students, "Have fun!"

"Bye," said Ginny, waving at them as they mounted the Grand Staircase. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and walked down the dungeon path to the Slytherin common room, wondering how on earth she was going to survive the next month.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Review! 


	2. Chapter 2: First Impressions

**Chapter 2: First Impressions**

Summary: Hermione and Draco both know something is wrong. How long will Ginny and Blaise be able to fool them?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything connected or affiliated with J. K. Rowling or the Harry Potter series. Duh.

_Red. Of course, everything would be red, _Blaise thought as she stepped into the Gryffindor common room right behind Fred and George. Although she had to admit, it felt a lot more like home than the Slytherin common room. The chairs looked a lot more comfortable and even the fire looked more inviting.

Realizing she must look strange staring at the common room as if she'd never been there before, she quickly snapped her attention back to the Weasley twins. Just as she was about to ask where the dorms were, Hermione Granger waved at her from her seat by the fire, beckoning her to join her.

Noticing who was distracting Blaise, Fred said, "The girls' dorms are over there." He pointed to an opening where an ascending spiral staircase was visible.

"You'll probably need to talk to Hermione before you go to bedthough," said George, "It would be suspicious if you didn't and she would notice right away if something were different with Ginny. Good luck, Blaise."

And with that, they left her standing in the middle of the common room. Wanting to just disappear up the staircase, Blaise sighed and instead walked over to Hermione, trying to make her smile a little friendlier.

"Hello, Ginny," said Hermione brightly, moving her mounds of homework out of the way so Blaise could sit down, "I wondered where you were. How come you didn't come to dinner?"

"Oh," said Blaise, racking her brain for an excuse, "Fred and George just wanted to show me one of their new inventions and I…uh…just felt like eating in the kitchen for a change."

"Okay," said Hermione, looking at Blaise questioningly. Blaise could tell she knew there was a bit more behind the story.

Trying to change the subject, Blaise asked, "So where are Harry and Ron?"

"Oh, I think they're playing chess somewhere around here," she said, glancing briefly around the common room, before turning her attention back to Blaise. "Is there something wrong, Ginny?" she asked curiously.

"No," said Blaise, trying to appear nonchalant, "Why?"

"You just seem a bit different," said Hermione thoughtfully, "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me?"

"I'm sure, Hermione," said Blaise, looking her in the eyes with a hint of a smile. In truth, she was rather surprised by Hermione's concern. She always just assumed that Gryffindors were arrogant and callous; it made it much easier to hate them.

"Okay," said Hermione hesitantly. She still didn't believe her. Blaise wondered vaguely how long she would be able to keep the masquerade going with Hermione on the case.

"I'm a little tired, though, so I think I'll go up to bed," said Blaise, faking a yawn and standing up.

"But it's only 9:00," said Hermione in confusion. Ginny hardly ever went to bed that early.

"Yeah, well," said Blaise awkwardly, trying not to arouse any more suspicion, "I just think I need a bit more sleep tonight. I'll see you in the morning, Hermione."

"Goodnight Ginny," said Hermione, watching her friend walk up the stairs and out of sight. Something was definitely wrong.

Ginny had been looking for the entrance to the Slytherin common room for at least fifteen minutes. Trying not to scream with frustration, she paused and tried to remember Blaise's exact words. _After you pass the Potions classroom, take two lefts and a right and you'll find a short hallway with only one torch. _Yes, she had done that. _Go to the end of the hallway. There's a hidden passage on the right that leads you to another hallway._ Check. Check. She had done both of those things. _Count two torches down on the left and you'll find a blank stretch of stone wall. That's the entrance. _Ginny turned back to the beginning of the hallway and counted the torches on the left…one…two. There was the stone wall.

"Acromantula," Ginny said again, praying that this time it would miraculously open. Nothing happened. "Open up!" she screamed at the wall, completely fed-up and not caring who heard her at this point. When still nothing happened, she kicked the stone wall, achieving nothing more than a bruising pain in her toes.

"Blaise?" came a tentative voice down the hallway, "What are you doing?"

Ginny stopped hopping on one foot and looked toward the speaker. Pansy Parkinson was walking hesitantly toward her and for the first time in her life, Ginny was pleased to see her.

"Hi Pansy," she said, "I was just…er…"

"Why don't you come inside?" Pansy interrupted, turning around to a bare stretch of stone wall another two torches down. Ginny followed her inside, trying to ignore the pounding pain in her foot and hoping against hope that she would be able to pull this off.

The common room wasn't quite as gloomy as Ginny thought it would be. There was a crackling fire in one corner and several high-backed but comfortable-looking chairs dotted around the room. The stone walls and ceiling complete with low-hanging lamps made the room appear smaller than it really was, but overall, Ginny felt it could be much worse.

Drawing her attention away from the room, Ginny followed Pansy to a corner lit by a hanging lantern where four people were sitting and talking quietly.

"Hey Blaise," said Millicent Bulstrode, nodding to Ginny, "Where were you at dinner?"

"Oh, I got in a little trouble with Filch and had to hide out in the kitchens," said Ginny casually, as if she talked to these people every day.

"Trouble?" asked Goyle, his voice dull. Ginny couldn't tell whether he didn't care that she was in trouble or if that's how he always spoke.

"Uh, nothing to worry about," she said, trying to shrug it off. In truth, Blaise had never told her exactly why Filch had been chasing her before.

Trying to find something else to talk about, Ginny glanced around the circle of Slytherins. Pansy and Millicent were already talking about something else, presumably to do with boys or some such subject because Pansy was giggling every few seconds. Crabbe and Goyle were staring off into space and apparently attempting to reach new levels of stupidity. Malfoy was the only one who hadn't acknowledged her presence and was currently glaring at a spot on Ginny's chair leg.

"Is something wrong, Draco?" asked Ginny, trying to make her tone light and teasing even though it felt incredibly wrong to be addressing him by his first name.

He shifted his glare to her face and somehow managed to sneer and raise an eyebrow at the same time. "As if you didn't know," he said in his customary drawl, "You were the one who got me in this mess in the first place."

Uh oh. Blaise hadn't mentioned this. "What do you mean?" Ginny asked innocently.

"It's because of you and your 'little trouble with Filch' that I have detention tomorrow," he said, "He's making me clean all the school telescopes without magic! It'll take all night and it's all your fault!"

"Am I supposed to feel remorse at this point?" asked Ginny sarcastically, trying to be true to Blaise's personality.

For a moment she thought she'd pushed it too far; Malfoy's face contorted into an even deeper glare, but then it broke and he smiled at her, catching Ginny completely off guard.

"I'll just have to get you back sometime," he said lightly, his frown gone.

"I'd like to see you try," she teased. He just smiled again. It was surprisingly easy to talk to him and it looked as though she might be able to pull this off after all.

"Well, we're off to bed," said Pansy, "See you guys tomorrow." She and Millicent walked over to a doorway through which Ginny could see a smooth stone staircase descending. Crabbe and Goyle stood and hovered near their chairs awkwardly as if waiting for permission from Malfoy before leaving.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," said Malfoy dismissively. They immediately walked off.

As soon as they were out of sight, Malfoy leaned forward in his chair, looking at Ginny solemnly. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Ginny was taken aback. She had never seen Malfoy act serious before and it made him look like a whole different person. "What makes you think something's wrong?" she asked in confusion, trying to think of something she had said that had broken Blaise's character.

He sighed and looked at her openly. "Blaise, c'mon, I know you. You're acting different. You can tell me."

Ginny had never imagined in her wildest daydreams that Malfoy would say something so honest and open to anyone, even to his best friend, so having him talk like this to her was making her feel as if her hold on reality was slipping dangerously.

"Draco," she said, her voice faltering for the first time, "I…I don't…"

He continued to look at her closely for a moment before he stood up and said, "Fine, you can tell me tomorrow. Goodnight Blaise."

She was still so shocked at his behavior that she almost didn't respond in time, but at the last minute, she said, "Goodnight Draco."

After Malfoy had gone, Ginny sat in the corner for a while, thinking over their conversation and trying to find a time where she'd said or done something wrong. When the clock on the mantelpiece struck 10:00, she decided to call it a night. If she was lucky, she might be able to talk to Blaise tomorrow without arousing more suspicion.

Later that night, Ginny lay in the unfamiliar bed, trying to fall asleep, but it was proving a fruitless task. Despite her current situation, it wasn't the fact that she was in Blaise Zabini's body that was bothering her most. Nor the fact that she was sleeping in a Slytherin dorm surrounded by some of her worst enemies or that she was very unlikely to talk to any of her friends for a month. No, the only thing that was making it so hard for sleep to come was the fact that Draco Malfoy's face kept popping up in her mind, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes looking intently into hers.

A/N: One quick thing. I apologize if Draco seems OOC. I'm trying to get the point across that he puts up this different personality for everyone but Blaise (who, if you remember, is his best friend in this fic). So bear with me and hopefully it won't get too ridiculous. If you think it does just let me know. I promise I'm very open to criticism.

Review! 


	3. Chapter 3: Playing the Part

**Chapter 3: Playing the Part**

Summary: Ginny's first day as Blaise isn't working out quite the way she had hoped. With Draco now on the case, what will she do?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything connected or affiliated with J. K. Rowling or the Harry Potter series. Duh.

Opening her eyes to brilliant sunshine, Ginny yawned widely and turned over in her bed, staring at the wall. She had had the strangest dream…about being forced by Fred and George to inhabit Blaise Zabini's body for a month! Repressing a shudder, Ginny almost laughed at the absurdity. _As if that would ever happen,_ she thought to herself.

She snuggled deeper into the warm blankets, wanting to drop off again and not have to face another difficult day of classes.

"You're still in bed?" asked a disbelieving voice as someone pulled back the curtains around Ginny's bed. Ginny smiled slightly, thinking it was probably Tiffany, one of her more outspoken dorm mates. Suddenly the covers were yanked off of Ginny's bed, making her curl into an even tighter ball in an attempt to ward off the cold.

"C'mon, you've got to get up!" said the same person. Ginny frowned. That wasn't Tiffany's voice. In fact, it didn't sound like any of her friends' voices, but it rather reminded Ginny of…she rolled over to make sure and groaned aloud at the sight…Pansy Parkinson. So it hadn't been a dream after all.

Pansy was staring down at Ginny in disbelief and concern, almost as if she was worried about her.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You never sleep in like this." When Ginny didn't reply, but rather squinted up at Pansy through the morning light, trying to make sure she wasn't a hallucination, she said, "Do you want to go to the hospital wing?"

"No, I'm fine," said Ginny hurriedly, sitting up in bed. She hated going to the hospital wing, even when she was sick. Considering the disputes that Madame Pomfrey and her had had over the years, (most of which were about the visiting hours of a certain black-haired, bespectacled boy) this was hardly surprising.

"Good," replied Pansy with a mischievous grin before she pummeled Ginny with the pillow she had been hiding behind her back. Ginny had a moment of shock before she immediately launched her counterattack. After about fifteen minutes of shrieking laughter and flying feathers, the two girls finally called a truce and flopped onto Ginny's bed, completely out of breathe and smiling happily. Ginny could hardly believe that she had just had a ferocious and wonderfully childish pillow fight with Pansy Parkinson, of all people, when her supposed best friend, Hermione, would just consider such a request as barbaric nonsense.

Pansy opened her mouth to say something, but was immediately cut off by a loud barrage of giggling, shrieking, and laughing filtering through their partially closed dormitory door. They only had time to share one bewildered glance before the door swung open, revealing Draco Malfoy leaning casually on the frame, carrying his broomstick and looking as if he did this every day.

"Are you planning on eating this morning?" he drawled, taking in Ginny and Pansy's somewhat feather-strewn appearances and the fact that Ginny was still in her nightclothes.

"Yes," said Ginny defiantly, immediately springing from the bed and bending over her truck to look for something to wear. Pansy just sat on the bed, blushing and examining the apparently fascinating hole in Ginny's bedspread.

"And what exactly were you doing all this time?" he asked. Ginny could tell he was smiling without looking at his face.

"Having a highly sophisticated tea party," said Ginny sarcastically, turning around with her clothes in her arms and curtsying to Malfoy as gracefully as she could.

He smiled again but didn't reply as she went into the bathroom to change and get ready. Ginny's contented smile immediately vanished as she looked into the mirror. It wasn't that Blaise was ugly, but it was still very shocking to see someone else's face gazing at her from the glass. Turning away, she glanced quickly through the cabinets and found the one labeled in messy green ink: Blaise Zabini. Thanking the heavens that Blaise didn't wear makeup, one of the few things they had in common, Ginny quickly got dressed and hurried out of the Slytherin dorms with Malfoy and Pansy, praying that she would be able to get through her first day unscathed.

The journey to breakfast went without great incident until they reached the Entrance Hall. As they walked out from the dungeon entrance, Ginny noticed some very familiar people coming down the staircase. Instinctively, she raised her hand to wave to Hermione, but upon noticing the sharp look Draco gave her, she quickly attempted to excuse the strange arm movement by scratching her head. Trying her best to ignore her Gryffindor friends and the odd looks Draco was now shooting her, she walked over to the Slytherin table and started serving herself breakfast.

"Hey Blaise," said a weedy-looking boy she vaguely recognized but couldn't name, "Are you ready for Quidditch practice?"

_Quidditch practice?_ "Uh, yeah, sure," stuttered Ginny, wondering how long she would be able to go without hitting one of her 'teammates' with a Bludger. She had always been terrible at playing Beater and Blaise was supposed to be quite good.

The boy gave her a strange look but, seeming to dismiss her lack of enthusiasm, he continued talking with an amount of eagerness that Ginny thought was rather annoying, especially at this time of the morning. After a long spiel about everything that might affect their practice, such as how much energy they would have after classes were over and how the humidity level might affect their brooms, Ginny was wondering why anyone would even bother to put up with him. Maybe he was just a really good Quidditch player. She glanced around the table to see how everyone was taking the longwinded speech. Malfoy was gazing at a spot on the wall with a glazed expression, clearing not paying attention. Pansy was talking with Millicent and occasionally stealing glances at Malfoy's face and blushing. Ginny stared at Pansy for a while in bewilderment. Did she _fancy_ Malfoy? After a while, Ginny was brought sharply back to earth by the overexcited boy saying to her, "I've been practicing in my spare time and I think I figured out a new move. Do you want to try it out before practice?"

Wondering how she was going to get out of this short of hexing herself and going to the Hospital Wing, she looked desperately round at Malfoy for help. To her surprise, he had also snapped out of his trance upon hearing the question and seemed to be expecting this reaction from her. "Oh leave her alone, Ted," he drawled to the boy. "We'll be able to beat Hufflepuff no contest without any extra practices." The boy looked a little abashed, but merely turned to the person sitting next to him and continued talking about the upcoming practice with unabated enthusiasm.

"So," began Draco in a casual tone, almost as if gauging her reaction, "Do you feel up to practice today?"

"Of course! Why would I let you have all the fun?" she scoffed, even though her stomach was saying that she definitely did _not _feel up to practice at all. He looked at her carefully but let the subject drop as she breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to be a very interesting day.

By dinnertime, Ginny felt as if her brain had been rubbed raw against a grinding stone, mashed into jelly, and stomped on by hyperactive toddlers. Malfoy _definitely_ knew something was wrong now, no doubt about it. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if the entire school knew that Blaise Zabini had suddenly and inexplicably gone mad.

The first, and probably toughest, part of being Blaise was that she had to go through fifth year classes when she only had fourth year knowledge. That would probably explain why her potion had exploded all over the Slytherin and Gryffindor fifth years, causing the majority of the class to suffer from a strange shrinking body part syndrome and Snape to look at her as if he was completely shocked that a Slytherin had caused so much trouble in his class. It was also probably the reason why the porcupine she had been trying to change into a marshmallow in Transfiguration had somehow just turned green and multiplied, causing a large amount of chaos to reign while people ran around with green quills sticking out of their legs as Professor McGonagall attempted in vain to round up the horde of prickly animals and regain calm in the classroom. She had lost ten points from Slytherin for the exploding potion incident (not that she minded) and had received a detention from McGonagall when she had been identified as the culprit of the multiplying porcupines.

She had also had a few very close calls throughout the day when she had seen some of her friends in the hallways between classes and only at the last minute remembered that she was supposed to hate them now. Her last interview with Luna Lovegood and the hurt look in her eyes as the girl left was still fresh in her mind. She had hated insulting Luna, especially when she had been the one to stick up for her so many times, but she just couldn't afford any more slipups and had watched her walk away feeling as if she was the most wretched person to walk the halls at Hogwarts.

The only solution to her problem (or problems) that she could think of was to talk to Blaise. She would be able to sort everything out, or at least help to get a little control over her new life. But every time she had seen her, she was with some of Ginny's friends, completely oblivious to Ginny's need to talk with her. Ginny also had a hard time going anywhere without either Malfoy, Pansy, or Millicent tagging along and it would hardly make her situation any better to walk up to Blaise as if they talked everyday.

Needless to say, by the time she sat down for dinner, the last thing she wanted to do was play as a Beater for the Slytherin Quidditch practice. Malfoy had been staring at her oddly all through dinner, and she could tell that he was waiting for a chance to talk with her alone. Therefore, when Pansy got up to go back to the common room, wishing them a good practice, Ginny shot up, saying, "I'll go back with you, Pansy. There's something I wanted to do."

"But what about practice?" asked the weedy boy who Ginny had by now identified as Theodore Nott.

"I'll be back in time," she mumbled, walking away as she felt her cheeks begin to redden. She saw Malfoy and Nott share one mystified glance before she practically fled the Great Hall in her desperation to get away from her charade.

As Ginny dismounted from Blaise's Nimbus 2001 behind the rest of team, she felt her cheeks redden for what must have been the five hundredth time in two hours. She meekly followed them into the changing rooms, trying to ignore the fact that they were all trying to catch her eye.

She quickly stuffed Blaise's broom into the shed, grabbed her school robes, and retreated into the girls' changing room, feeling the entire team's eyes on her back. Immediately after she closed the door, she heard them break out into whispered conversations. She put her ear to the door, wondering what they were saying about her.

"Did you see her face when that first Bludger came at her?"

"I thought she was going to fall off for a second…"

"What's going on with her?"

"There's no _way_ we can win against the other teams with her playing like _that_!"

"No, we can probably still take Hufflepuff, but we'll have no chance at Ravenclaw or Gryffindor if she doesn't shape up soon…"

Pushing away from the door, she was surprised to feel tears pricking her eyes. It was only some Slytherins, so why was she so broken up about it? Who cared what they said about her? But then, she had never been so humiliated while playing Quidditch before. Playing Beater was definitely not her strong point…and if Fred and George were right about that powder taking a month to make, that meant she would still be in Blaise's body when they played Hufflepuff…

Without warning, she felt herself give in to the black despair that had been eating away at her all day and she broke down into sobs, trying to be as quiet as possible so the others wouldn't hear her. How long she sat there in the unfamiliar Slytherin changing room, crying her heart out to the world, she didn't know, but by the time she had pulled herself together and left for the castle, the sun had almost set.

"Blaise?" She looked around cautiously, trying to find the person who had spoken. When she saw Draco Malfoy walking slowly towards her from the direction of the stands, she wished she had stayed in the changing rooms a bit longer.

"What?" she asked. She knew he was about to confront her, but she had no idea what to say or do. If he found out who she really was…

"I wanted to talk to you," he said. He stopped in front of her, his hair nearly blinding her as it reflected the red rays of the sun. He opened his mouth as if to say something, a determined look on his face, but stopped when he looked up at her. She realized she must look a mess and suddenly wondered if her eyes were still red and swollen from crying. She hadn't bothered to check before leaving the changing rooms…

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice carrying a deep concern. Ginny felt touched in spite of herself. Despite the crazy things she had been doing all day and the way she had been acting, he was still worried about her. _He must care a lot about Blaise_, she thought bitterly. _It must be nice to have someone like that…_

"Nothing's wrong," she said, trying to make her voice light but only succeeding in making it crack.

He looked at her impatiently. "Right," he said, his voice a little annoyed. "And my mother is Dumbledore's long lost great aunt. Now either tell me what's wrong or I'll find out for myself. I'm not going to just stand aside while you rampage around the school just because you're upset about something and you won't tell me what it is."

"Well I," she hesitated, wondering what on earth she could do. "I…I've got to go, Draco." And without another word, she fled back to the castle. She knew what she was doing was childish and ridiculous, but she honestly had no idea what to say. As she ran, she tried to push all other thoughts from her mind and lodge one thought firmly in her frazzled brain: get to Blaise.

A/N: One quick thing: when introducing Theodore Nott, I decided that Theodore wasn't exactly the kind of name that rolled off the tongue, so I did some research and the only common nicknames I could find for Theodore were Tad, Ted, or Teddy. Tad reminds me way too much of a tadpole, Teddy was not the sort of name one associates with a Slytherin, so Ted it became. Also a few people have pointed out that Theo is a common nickname as well, which I completely forgot about. However, the name is going to remain Ted, just because I like it. Anyway, the name Theo always makes me think of the Cosby Show...yeah, I've watched way too many reruns.

**re-view** /rivyōō/ n. **1** a comment a reader of Harry Potter fanfiction usually leaves for a specific chapter, detailing the reader's thoughts and opinions on said chapter.

**ven-det-ta **/vendeţә/ n. **1** a prolonged bitter quarrel with or campaign against someone or something: _The author of the fanfiction story had a personal vendetta against all those who read her story but did not review._

In other words, REVIEW! Thanks!


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